Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126284
EDesert Hotline II!: •• t ~ Roeseler .wins Invaders'AMA Nati'onal CJtampions__ip BSB By Gary laudig LUCERNE VAL LEY, CA . OCT. 16 With six cases of ribbon scattered across the Mojave, umpteen boxes of day-glos and Webcos in place, the stage was set for the first ever AMA-sanctioned National Championship ' race. The atmosphere was more on the serious side as the entrants received their new numbers and instructions. The racers assembled . lAbovel TIle Invaders Championship hare 'n hound was business as usual for Roeseler - he smoked the f'l8ld. (Below left! Ogilvie was second despite a flat tire. (Below right) Roeseler gets tha trophy from Big John Wilson. (Bottoml Ogilvie's Harley teammate Bob Rutten finished third. 14 on the line awaiting the banner drop ; once done, · the . racers were on their way to the rock pile canyon then out across the vast Johnson Valley basin . The fastest bike to the canyon was a Maico r idden by Lucerene's own Chuck Pettigrew. About three throttle blips back was La rry Roeseler being pursued b y Morgan " T h e Pirate" Malocco . The big Harley eagle on th e chest of Bruce Ogilvie was next then Rogo the Checker, Bruce Lewellyn . and John Prater , Jr. . Once th e racers cleared the mouth of the canyon. they hooked a difficult right through rock strewn deep sa nd then it was every man for himself as they set their sights for the valley to the right of .Victor Pass . Because of th e excessive dust , everyone broke trail and the sight of the racers looked just like another bomb run . Roeseler and Ogilvie got by Pettigrew about halfway across the valley. With both riders' excellent ability , plus a multitude of problems with the next few contenders, the battle for the championship would be a Roeseler/Ogilvie duel. T im Fitzpatrick was testing his freshly healed arm as he had a heck. of a time. keeping "Down hill" Alexander away from him . By the time the racers neared the small canyon wash , the racers were fairly'well strung out as the first loop was intended to do . Terry Davis started his charge. getting by Rick Jones , Tony Greaves and Dan Thordarson. Grant Jennings was real happy holding down first amateur but the glory was short lived and Warren Goodman took over the spot. The first 250 Amateur was not a local , but Idaho import Ken Medley out of Fruitland , Idaho. The second 250 rider was out of Goshen , Utah , Kit Morg-an. The "C" bike hero for a while was Eric Dattola but his bike was soon loaded in th e back of his pickup when the rocky uphill section gobbled his tire. He wasn 't the only one. After this race. tire stock will gain seve ral points on Dow -Jones for sure . By thi s tim e the Invaders had turned th e Support class loose and the leader of th e p ack was non e other tha n Mike Edmonson shooting ac ross th e dese rt as if Darth Vader was afte r him . T om Matt ox and Dick Gr aham sta rted sti rring up dust for guys like first Open Beginner Rick Edwards, Rick Martin, Randy Neal and Dave Weller. Heading out across Johnson Valley, Rich Hall, Gordon Hechter , Pete Kinney and second beginner Mike Waiters were trying to find some · visibility and another gear . The first bunch cleared -check one by the rockpainted check six , the apex of the.. loop. Now it was a mad dash for home with anticipation of loop two and three that was pre-advertised by Invaders spokesm a n Dennis Rosenberg as being "rea lly super ," After Roeseler , Ogilvie and Pettigrew took the home check, Bob Rutten flew through at fourth overall , coming from almost last. The other mover was the man from Laramie. Wyoming, Rich Jackson . Rich made .up 16 positions and looked determined to make up some more. As soon as the course penetrated the mountains . the trail turned right and ridge ran for about a half mile before dumping into the first of many sandwashes. I once stated the Desert Foxes were sandwash . freaks. Those guys don't hold a candle to the Invaders. They found washes out there that haven't been used since the Dinosaurs died . " Q u ickd ra w" McGraw was living proof that rocks bite. With a flat front tire minus air and a gaping hole in the front of his expansion chamber made it a hard job holding down 14th. Laddie King, out of Green River, ' Utah , began wondering who was steering the bike. He wanted to go around the rock but the front tire had other ideas. The first sneaky of the day almost caught Red Austin off guard . It was a quick left hand tum out of the wash that had to be made right now or you found yourself with a stalled bike and a short fuse. Joel Quinn out of Salt Lake City .was right behind Red and took lessons from the cagey veteran. The territory out here brought smiles to the faces of some of the most cronic snivelers because they were in stuff that no way resembled the Lucerne they were used to . Steve Nicholson led the way for Bob Delliplaine, Greg Perkins and Buzz Moeller as the trail dropped down into the flat lands in route to Camp Rock. The trail here was well used, fast and fun . Crossing the power line road the course headed into the hills then the wash to the left of "ta nk slapper" wash . Clearing this, Jim Dodd , Jim W ells and th e man from Boise , Idaho. Brian Beautrou headed for Camp Rock wit h Support cla ss leaders Tom Mattox ga ining ground fa st. Sec ond su p p ort rider John